{"product_id":"hey-presto-1","title":"Hey Presto!","description":"In this book the author reveals how medicine shows, both ancient and modern, galvanized Jonathan Swift's imagination and inspired his wittiest satiric voices. Swift dubbed these multifaceted traveling entertainments his \u003ci\u003eStage-itinerant\u003c\/i\u003e or \"Mountebank's Stage.\" In the course of arguing that the stage-itinerant formed an irresistible model for \u003ci\u003eA Tale of a Tub\u003c\/i\u003e, Ormsby-Lennon also surmises that the mountebank's stage will disclose that missing link, long sought, which connects the twin objects of Swift's ire: gross corruptions in both religion and learning. In the early modern medicine show, the quack doctor delivered a loquacious harangue, infused with magico-mysticism and pseudoscience, high-astounding promises, and boastful narcissism. To help him sell his panaceas and snake-oil, he employed a Merry Andrew and a motley troupe of performers. From their stages, many quacks also peddled their own books, almanacs, and other ephemera, providing Grub Street with many of its best-sellers. Hacks practiced, quite literally, as quacks. Merry Andrew and mountebank traded costumes, whiskers, and voices. Swift apes them all in the \u003ci\u003eTale\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Published by University of Delaware Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press.\u003cbr\u003e   ","brand":"University of Delaware Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54242992521560,"sku":"9781644531143","price":132.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781644531143.jpg?v=1778732164","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/hey-presto-1","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}